


His Undoing

by eclecticanarchist



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Death, F/F, F/M, Gallows Humor, Mental Breakdown, Original Character(s), Physical Abuse, Psychological Torture, Quadrant Vacillation, Rape/Non-con Elements, Torture, big time, broken character, occasional cursing, physical breakdown, prolonged life, seriously this entire thing is gallows humor, they are all over the fucking place
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-25
Updated: 2013-10-18
Packaged: 2017-12-16 03:27:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/857235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eclecticanarchist/pseuds/eclecticanarchist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Well there you are, my silly little Helmsman!" she said, dropping her culling fork and lurching forward in what I assumed was an attempt kiss me. She missed and sloppily kissed my jaw instead. I pulled away slightly, which was he best I could manage in my situation, and felt my temper rising. I hated when she came down here like this, slobbering drunk and horny as hell. Focus on the ship, focus on the ship. I did my best to ignore the Condesce and ran an unnecessary all-systems check. She giggled and stepped deeper into the forest if pink, bioelectric wiring, that held me, using them to pull herself up onto the my body, wrapping her slender arms around my neck and leaning close to me, her bodysuit stretched tight over her curvaceous form.<br/>"Oh, that's right," she said with a drunken hiccup, "I forgot you really can't go anywhere else!" she said and descended into a fit if laughter, still hanging around the my neck. Her Imperial Condescension truly was a paragon of wit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! This is just something I have been working on because I don't see enough full length fics about the Psionic and he is my favorite character in Homestuck. Please forgive any spelling or grammar mistakes, I did try to look it over, but it doesn't hurt to warn you all. I really hope you enjoy, this thing has kinda been my baby these last couple of weeks, so I would greatly appreciate any comments or reviews you might have. I do plan on writing more of this. Thank you! Please forgive me for being so rough on the Psionic. Enjoy!
> 
> PS: This is also on Fanfiction.net

"You, my dear, sweet Psionic will face a far worse, if more prestigious fate," whispered the Condesce, her voice taunting and seductive as she stood on tip toe to whisper in the Psionic's ear, sending a shiver down the tall toll's spine. "You're to be my Helmsman"

 

\---------------------

 

"Oh Hellllmsmaaan!" slurred a familiar voice. "Ohhhhh Hellllmsman!" cried the Condesce as she stumbled down the hallway to the engine room. I could hear her, clumping away, something metal clanging into the walls of the corridor as she staggered against them. The leader of the troll race burst into the engine room, long dark hair matted and wild about her face, eyes bloodshot from alcohol. If only your people could see you now, I thought as I gazed down at the woman who filled my days with torment. No, her people would never see her now, like this. Only I saw her this way, hair unbound, and clothes filthy, and smelling of alcohol.

"Well there you are, my silly little Helmsman!" she said, dropping her culling fork and lurching forward in what I assumed was an attempt kiss me. She missed and sloppily kissed my jaw instead. I pulled away slightly, which was he best I could manage in my situation, and felt my temper rising. I hated when she came down here like this, slobbering drunk and horny as hell. Focus on the ship, focus on the ship. I did my best to ignore the Condesce and ran an unnecessary all-systems check. She giggled and stepped deeper into the forest if pink, bioelectric wiring, that held me, using them to pull herself up onto the my body, wrapping her slender arms around my neck and leaning close to me, her bodysuit stretched tight over her curvaceous form.

"Oh, that's right," she said with a drunken hiccup, "I forgot you really can't go anywhere else!" she said and descended into a fit if laughter, still hanging around the my neck. Her Imperial Condescension truly was a paragon of wit. How nice of her to point out that, constricted as I was, I could do nothing but hang there, and endure. She leaned forward, reveling in the weary resignation on my face, and mashed her lips to mine once again. The look of smug superiority on her face brought me back to myself somewhat. She thought she had won, that I had nothing else left in me. True, four sweeps as her Helmsman had worn away whatever hope and optimism I once had, but I had never had an abundance of either of those things. If anything, my slavery had only made my cynicism and will to fight greater. Slowly, I felt the old familiar rage rising in me. Rage for the Condesce and her sick ways, and for all those others who at by and watched as their very own people were ground into submission. Old sermons surfaced in my mind, the Signless ranting it that gentle, authoritative manner that had won over so many hearts. He was gone now. My moirail was gone. She had killed him.

"Get off me," I growled through gritted teeth. The fuchsia blood did nothing but settle herself more comfortable against my hips with a vacuous, drunken smile. That was it. I had had enough of her. Steeling myself, I exerted some psionic energy and plucked the Condesce off of me, red and blue energy flashing along her body as I tossed her onto the floor. She landed with a thump, her vapid expression turning to one of anger as she stood. It was then that I realized that this was probably not one of my better moves

"You dare!" she shrieked, lunging for her culling fork, and taking a few quick steps forward, bringing the weapon to bear on my stomach. Shit. This was not going to end well for me. She snarled, lips peeling back to display a mouth full of sharp fangs. "You dare use your disgusting freak lights on me? Me, your superior in every way possible?"

"Somehow they aren't so disgusting when they are powering your ship," came my smart ass reply. I couldn't help myself. Sudden pain flashed through me as she thrust her hand forward, golden prongs piercing my flesh. I gasped as pain rocked through me. A slight tremor ran through the ship, and all systems suffered from a temporary malfunction as I fought to regain my hold on the ships mainframe. Stupid, stupid, stupid! You'd think that by now I'd learn to watch my god damn mouth.

All across the ship, crew members were initiating the ship's backup power supply, power being pulled from a power core rather than my life force. The higher ups among the crew knew what was happening down here; they knew where their ships' power came from, and were fine fine with it. No, more than fine with it, they probably enjoyed the knowledge that their Empress was torturing a lowblood somewhere belowdecks. Sick bastards. The lowbloods among the crew were used to these interruptions, without knowing the cause, and knew how to cope with these unexplained power outages. Both groups, however, knew that it would not be over yet, and unfortunately, so did I.

The Condesce frowned down at the now-slick culling fork clutched in her manicured hand. Mustard yellow ichor seeped from the wound in my side in a worryingly steady stream, soaking fabric of my ragged jumpsuit. "Well that does look bad," she said as she pursed her painted lips and simpered at me. I glared pure hatred at her, but she seemed unperturbed. I guess my glare of pure hatred isn't at its most potent when I have a fucking trident sticking out of my side and a megalomaniac highblood clinging to my neck and am grafted to the hull of a starship every moment having my life sapped out of me to fuel said starship. I'd have to work on that.

"You've got such a tongue on you, Helmsman. I do hate it when you make me angry," the Condesce purred as she stroked the side of my face. I gritted my teeth in a futile attempt to withhold a whimper as the pain in my side intensified and then lessened as she pulled the culling fork from my side and cast it with a clang to the cold metal floor of the engine room. She smiled at me in mock apology, her long nails trailing through my hair. With her other hand she reached down and gently stroked the wound, trailing her fingers over the three jagged punctures, exerting her gift as she did so. I felt the pain ebb away and eventually fade completely and could not help but sigh in relief.

"There," she said with a too-sweet smiled. "All better. Wouldn't want you to break down again." The voluptuous troll brought her yellow-coated fingers to her mouth and casually licked the blood away. "I do hate faulty machinery." A chill of cold fear tingled at my spine. Wouldn't want you to break down again. Memories that I had thought long buried resurfaced. A crunch of bone, a spurt of yellow blood, her laughter, and the cold respite of what I had hoped to be death. I was wrong. She hadn't allowed it. This was three sweeps ago, when I was new to this whole Helmsman business, and had not yet accepted my fate. I had provoked her, wishing to end my torment. In retrospect the whole affair had caused more pain than it was worth, and had not managed to kill me.

Well technically it had, but thanks to her Touch, it hadn't been for very long. Her brutalization of me led to the ship having to run using a power core for a week while her bio-technicians had to repair the control hub from where she had ripped me from my wiring. And of course, her surgeons had to fix me up as well. But soon enough they had everything fixed up and had me re-grafted to the ship. I dread to think what the scars look like underneath all this wiring. Lucky for me I will in all certainty, never have to see them.

I can't remember much from the following sweep; I assume they just drugged me into submission, afraid of another outburst that would leave both their ship and their precious Empress so compromised. I got my consciousness privileges back eventually and had learned not to provoke the highblood. Apparently I did not learn that lesson too well seeing as that was exactly what I just did. Needless to say it was not an experience I wished to relive. Sometime during my trip down memory lane the Condesce had climbed down of of me and now leaned over a nearby computer console. That could not be good.

Her face was drawn in concentration as she bent over the illuminated screens, flicking switches and fiddling with wiring. Apparently anger and being thrown around a bit had sobered her up. After ten minutes of this, I grew impatient, and was about to open my mouth to ask her what she was doing and why she couldn't do it somewhere else when a bright, white wall of pain slammed into me. I think I screamed. I don't know for certain. At that point blind panic and mind-numbing pain had a hold of me and was not letting go. As I struggled through the pain, a sudden, sickening realization came over. That was exactly what it was. Mind-numbing. I could no longer use my psionics.

I struggled against the pain, attempting to reach that part of me that had always been in such easy reach. That part of me that would allow me to reach outside of myself and manipulate the world around me was gone. No, it wasn't completely gone. I could still feel it under the oppressive force of the pain. I panicked and reached out again, attempting to use my psionics. I closed my eyes as the wall pushed down on me with more strength, and the world began to darken at the edges.

As soon as I released that part of me that was reaching for my psionics I could open my eyes, though my jaw remained firmly clenched against any witty reply I might come up with. I soon realized that I had overestimated myself, and that there was no way in hell that I could convince my mutated brain to do anything besides just hang there and try not to pass out. The pain surrounded me and I remained in my agonized and unspeaking state for a stretch of time that could have been three minute or three hours. I simply hung there, completely still, vision pulsing with bright white light. Eventually the pain faded into the background; it was still there, still painful, still blocking my psionics, but it had lessened. I turned my gaze to look down at the Condesce's smirking face. She answered my unspoken question, graceful eyebrows arched and a satisfied grin on her lips.

"I had them installed last time we updated the console," She said, straightening from where she was leaned over the console and taking a few seductive steps towards me, hips swaying from side to side. There was a teasing tone in her voice as she continued, one that perfectly matched the mocking smile that lit her face. "The technicians said that they would effectively dampen a psionic's telekinetic abilities. What do you think, Helmsman? Did they do a good job?" I growled at her, still unable to form coherent words. She smirked at me and took another step forward, coming to a stop just in front of where I was suspended.

"I'll take that as a yes," she sighed, sadistic pleasure showing in her voice as she examined my grimacing face. "This is what you get for being such a bad boy," she said in a lilting voice, "I had it installed for just this situation. I had hoped that I would never need to use it, but you didn't leave me much of a choice. You must understand, I can't tolerate a filthy lowblood such as yourself throwing around the Empress. It just won't do." A glint flashed dangerously in her fuchsia eyes as she once again hauled herself up to look me in the eye. A disturbingly tender expression came over her face as she ran a hand over my sunken cheek.

"I'll take them off. I'de be happy to. I just need one thing from you in return," she said, hunger in her voice. I felt dread rising in me. I knew what that hunger meant. Too well for my liking. She moved her head, bringing her lips down to meet mine. I moved at the last minute, so that her kiss landed on my cheek rather than on my lips.

"No," I whispered, my voice hoarse. I looked into her face as I said it, and saw the rejection written clearly across her features. Then came the anger. She slapped me hard, rocking my head back, and causing a twinge in my already painful head. Then she grabbed a fistful of my hair and brought my face to hers as she brought her lips down forcibly on my own. The kiss was full of anger, and something else, something that made me shudder to consider. Longing. Actual longing. She let go of my head with a jerk and took a step back, a flash of that same longing showing in her eyes as I stared at her incredulously. She had made sexual advances on me before, but it had never been like this. Before it was territorial, showing me that I was hers, and that she could do anything she wanted to me. But this? This was something different. Whatever had shown in her face was gone, now replaced by hard anger.

"I would have removed them, but now I think you need to be taught a lesson," she said, a manic smile on her face. "Goodbye, Helmsman, I'll see you in a bit. Enjoy the blocks while I'm gone!" And with that she stormed out of the room, seamlessly stooping to pick up her culling fork as she left. I stared after her. She had left the psionic blocks on, meaning that I would be both unable to use my psionic abilities, and in constant pain until the Condesce cooled down. Knowing her, that could take anywhere between a day and a sweep. Fuck.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry! This one is shorter!
> 
> Thank you to TwinDoomsday!
> 
>  
> 
> \------------------------------

It ended up being two and a half sweeps before I saw Her Imperial Condescension again. In my opinion, leaving me in constant mental torment for this long was a bit of an overreaction, seeing as I had only rejected a kiss or two. And hey, she’d landed one, so she shouldn’t have been that put out. I guess she just wasn’t used to dealing with rejection, though I'm not sure that many trolls would chance any kind of relationship with the Condesce. I really didn’t feel too bad for her. I wonder why. It wasn’t that bad after a while. I got used to being unable to use my psionics. And after about half a sweep, the pain caused by the blocks faded, becoming background noise in the symphony of aches and pains that was my day-to-day existence. Piloting the ship got easier too, though I am not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. 

When she arrived it wasn't with a great amount of pomp or ceremony, and for once she wasn't drunk. She sauntered into the room, her trident in hand, and a cocky grin on her face. She stood in front of me confidently, looking up at me with a triumphant expression on her face. She had clearly gotten over whatever my rejection had done to her pride. She knew she was in control of the situation, even more than she was the last time we met. She smirked at me, looking me up and down with one eyebrow raised. 

“You look like shit,” she said happily, that self-satisfied grin still plastered over her face. Whatever had spurred her confidence boost had done one hell of a job. Even her poise was different, something that I had never imagined to notice. It might have simply been the results of being the Empress for a few sweeps that had given her this attitude, but there was something else. She exuded raw, sensual power that he had seen before. She knew she was in complete control.

“You’re back,” I croaked, my voice rough from disuse. She smiled at me sweetly, practically purring as she set down her trident and walked over to the console, and began fiddling with switches a buttons. The screens lit up, and I had to close my eyes against the bright light. I had grown accustomed to the half dark of the engine room, and to have the room suddenly illuminated reminded me how fucking depressing my situation was. I mean, it didn't even have any furniture! Not that a couple of chairs and a throw pillow would make it that much better, but it would have been nice if she tried, instead of just wiring a guy up and just leaving him there to rot in a cold, metal room. 

“Oh? And did you miss me?” she said, still clicking away at the controls. My heart lifted a little as I guessed at what she was doing. I guess she finally got over herself after all. Either that or she was just here for some good old-fashioned torture. I hoped it was the first one, because I was getting pretty fucking sick of the second. Anyway, I don’t think that psionic blocks were supposed to be kept on for that long. It was probably bad for me. The humor of that statement struck me, and a wry smile lit my lips. I was worrying about the ill-effect of having psionic blocks on, and yet I not worrying about powering an entire battleship rushing through universes at light speed with my mind. 

“Not in the slightest,” I said acidly. “I just thought you’d let me have a little more peace.” At this moment, the finally switch was flipped, and with a burst of static, I felt the accustomed pain rush from me. I felt dizzy for a moment, head spinning, until I felt that old familiar part of click back into place. My psionics were back. I could feel them, and damn did it feel good. I felt lighter than I had in ages, freed, which I suppose I was. I could feel the energies crackling along my body, leaping and sparking tendrils of red and blue that danced across the tendrils surrounding me. Damn did it feel good. My attention returned to the Condesce, who was smirking at me like not a second had passed. Maybe it hadn’t.

“Aww, you’ll hurt my feelings if you keep talking that way,” she said, leaning against the console and pouting at me, full lower lip jutting out teasingly. “How awful of you. And just when I was starting to be nice.” All the sugar-coating in the world couldn’t drown out the menace in her tone. She knew she had power over me, and she knew that I knew that she knew she had power over me, and she wasn’t afraid to exploit that knowledge to her advantage. What a bitch. 

“I feel so bad for you,” I said, unable to bite back my sarcasm any longer. To my credit, I actually tried, instead of just firing off my usual one liners as soon as she set one foot inside of this room. It showed a great deal of self-restraint, on my part. Sure, she knew that I knew that she knew that she had power over me, but apparently that was not enough to frighten my tongue into silence. I guess two and a half sweeps with no one to talk to but yourself can leave your snarkiness reserves at full capacity. “I am shocked by my blatant lack of sympathy for you. Really, how dare I?” She looked up at me, a glint in her I that I most certainly had not forgotten. This was going to get ugly.

I was surprised when, instead of grabbing her culling fork and stabbing me full of holes in a blind fit of rage, she let out a rich, dark chuckle and sauntered a few steps forward. I flinched back from her automatically, my arms tugging at the pink tentacles digging into my flesh. Her gaze never left mine as she walked closer to me, until she was looking straight into my face. I had never seen her like this, slow, controled, and yet still radiating icy cold fury. Somehow, this terrified me more than if she was in a blind rage. Slowly, teasingly, she reached a hand up to stroke a strand of dark hair out of my eyes. Whatever her intentions were, I was relieved, for it had been bugging me for a while now. I noted with interest that she had grown taller, she now needed only to stand on tip toe to reach my face, when before she had had to pull her self up onto the tumble of pink, bioelectric wiring below me. 

“Do I need to remind you of your place, lowblood?” When she spoke her voice was perfectly calm, and silky smooth. She tucked the lock of hair so it was held back by the harness attached to my goggles, before running her hand down the side of my face. Her palm was surprisingly soft, with only slight callouses that I assumed were from fighting with her trident. Or whatever else she might do with her hands. Without warning, she dug her nails into my cheek and dragged down. I bit back a yelp of surprise as she pulled her hand away, still smiling sweetly. I could feel four furrows burning their way down my face, and could feel the wet drip of blood onto my chest. She examined her fingers, now stained with mustard-yellow blood. Slowly, she popped each one into her mouth, and sucked them clean of blood, her eyes never leaving my face. “Because I won’t hesitate to do so. Tell me, do you need to be reminded?”

I shook my head silently, afraid of speaking. I kept my mismatched eyes focused downward, trying to avoid the cheshire grin of satisfaction that I knew was plastered across her face. I felt sick. She had grown worse in the past two and a half sweeps, something that I had previously believed impossible. Less mindlessly violent and more calculating, more malevolent. Like she needed to be any more of either of those two things. When I dared my eyes to flick back up to her face, she was smiling delightedly at me, her fuchsia eyes glinting in the dim light as she eyed my with predatory intensity.

“I forgot how much fun you can be, Helmsman. I have missed you, after all. I think you and I are going to have a lot more fun,” she said menacingly before she stepped away from me and headed for the door, collecting her culling fork as she did so. I watched her silently; I could still feel the slow trickle of blood down my face. She paused at the doorway, leaning against the doorframe and smiling back at me. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said with a smirk, turning to leave. “Don’t go anywhere.” I stared after her as the door slid shut, her laughter reverberating harshly against the metal confines of the engine room. Now that was low.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to anyone who is reading this! Really, just seeing that people liked this makes me really happy. Feel free to leave a comment, I'd love to hear what you think! I don't know if I have warned you about my slightly ooc Condesce. This is mostly just my headcanon. For both of them.
> 
> Check those tags!
> 
>  
> 
> \----------------------------

I was surprised when, the next evening, the Condesce once again graced the engine room with her glorious presence. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised by her arrival, she had given me warning, but I was. Well, not really surprised, just incredulous that she would actually follow through, and that it was possible for me to hate someone as much as I did her. Well, maybe myself. I glared at her as she strutted in, chest out, and a confident smile on her face. Nope, it was definitely her. An asteroid belt appeared in the scanners, and I adjusted our course accordingly. She was still looking up at me, smiling sweetly, her hands clutching her culling fork behind her back. “Just when I thought that my day couldn’t get any worse,” I mumbled. She laughed, throwing her head back, dark hair tumbling over her shoulders as she shook with laughter. I rolled my eyes. She stopped laughing, and turned back to me, an amused smile still on her face. “Very funny, Helmsman,” The Condesce said, the tone of confidence and power I had noticed in her voice yesterday still present in her voice. “But you know that I’m the best thing that can happen to your day. And the worst."

“You know, it never ceases to amaze me how egotistical you are,” I rasped, voice still unused to talking. The Empress of Alternia laughed again, this time a low chuckle as she leaned casually against a bank of bioelectric wiring. I looked at her with curiosity; I could feel her body, pressed against the wiring. I could feel the curve of her body, and the slick material of her bodysuit. Thinking about it, it made sense. I mean, I did have my nervous system wired into the fucking system, but nevertheless it was unnerving. The Condesce seemed to be unaware of my revelation, or just pretending to be so. Judging by her nature, I would probably guess the latter.

“Well that’s odd,” she said, feigning confusion, “I thought that that fact should have painfully obvious by now.” She snorted and I stared down at her, disdain written clearly across my face. She simpered up at me, and teasingly pressing her body further against the bank of wires. So she did know. Sultry bitch. “What? Don’t tell me that my little Helmsman can’t take a joke anymore.” I wanted to hurt her. I wanted to snap her neck and leaver her broken on her floor. Of course I couldn’t do that. And probably would never be able to. I could, however, try to be a big enough pain in the ass so she would just give up and decide to kill me early out of sheer annoyance. It was a long shot.

“What can I say Empress, your lack of intelligence leaves me simply unable to form words. Which is unsurprising. Really,I should have guessed that your brain would be as woefully underdeveloped as the rest of you. I think it is just something about the blood color, a little too rich to flow anywhere too quickly, if you get my meaning," I said with a smirk down at her. There was a minute where she did nothing but stare at me, and I did nothing but stare right back at her. When she did react, it was not how I expected. Instead of the anger that I had hoped for, the Condesce laughed. I looked at her without amusement as she continued laughing, doubling over, fuchsia tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. I was a bit affronted at this, to say the least. I mean, I’m not that egotistical, but to have one’s well worded insult just laughed away hurt. Not permanently though, and soon I had gotten over my wounded pride and was once again ready to scorch her with my razor-edged wit. Just as soon as she stopped her goddamn laughing fit. 

The Condesce straightened, brushing a hand over her eyes and wiping away the dark pink tears of mirth rolling down her cheeks. She wheezed a bit, making a show of trying to catch her breath. It was all a bit overdone, in my opinion. I got it already, she thought that was just fucking hilarious, for some reason. She recovered from her fit, and turned to face me, one hand on her hip as she shook her head at me condescendingly. Part of me smiled at that unintentional pun; the other part ignored its counterpart and focused back on the Condesce.

“What was that supposed to be? I've never heard you try so hard before,” she gasped, still struggling to catch her breath. She suddenly turned and smiled nastily up at me. “Was that your ploy to get me angry at you? Because that was just laughable.” Yes, you made that perfectly clear. I looked at her, psionics sparking in annoyance. It had been an attempt to get her angry, though apparently, she had gotten harder to provoke than she once was. I guess that I would just have to try harder if I wanted to get her to kill me. Something of what I was thinking must have shown on my face, because the Condesce looked at me coyly, head cocked to one side, and a wicked smile on her lips. She opened her parted lips, making a soft ahh sound, delight shining in her eyes. She sat on the edge of the control panel, crossing on toned leg over the other and leaning forward, propping her chin on her fist, with with that unnervingly pleased smile on her face. 

“I see now,” she said, breaking the silence, some of the same satisfaction that showed on her face being echoed in her tone. “You were trying to get me mad, to end your torment.” She laughed again, shaking her head. “That really is too cute, but I hope you know that I would never do that. You are far too valuable to be wasted. That’s why I didn’t just cull you alongside your precious mutant freak. Really, it is your fault for being so powerful. Power is attractive, especially for me. I see power and I want to possess it and make it my own, and once that power is within my grasp, I never let go.” She hopped off of the console and walked casually toward me. 

“Do you understand what I am saying, Helmsman?” she said, a preoccupied expression on her face as she looked up at me, magenta eyes framed by dark lashes. A shiver ran down my spine. “Once I have a hold of power I never let go, and baby, have I got a hold on you. I will never let you go, and nothing can take you from me. Not other trolls, or my own anger at how much of a little shit you can be, and most certainly not death.” 

“You are mine,” she said softly, on hand reaching up to trace the four freshly scabbed-over marks left by her fingernails from the night before. I closed my eyes, not able to stand looking at her smug face any longer. “And you will never leave my side. It’s just you and me for eternity, sweetheart, so you better get used to me.” I felt a soft pressure against my lips, as her hand went to the back of my head. I closed my eyes tighter, and tried to distract myself with something, anything besides the future she had laid out for me. Eventually she pulled away, her smile displaying the glint of white fangs in the dimly lit room as my eyes opened reluctantly. She tapped me playfully on the nose, before stepping down, and casually adjusting her jewelry. She smiled at me and winked, “So stiff, Helmsman. We’ll have to work on that.” Then she left, leaving me alone, and even more disgusted with myself than I had been already.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! I have a vacation in Florida which cut me off from any way of writing! Again, many apologies, but here it is now, and the next one should be coming soon because I was just inspired :) Thanks to any who are reading, and thank you for any of you have commented, I love reading them, and they are effective incentive to get my ass in gear and write more. So here you go! Sorry for any typos! Enjoy!

\---------------------------------

There was a party going on somewhere above decks. Not a quiet get-together, or a solemn war council meeting, but a full blown, ship-rocking, headache-inducing party. The Condy had warned me ahead of time, in such a backhand way that it was really more a string of insults than anything. Nevertheless, I had understood what she was trying to say. I guess I had developed  a deeper level if understanding with the Condesce, something that I was absolutely sure was bad for me.

 I sighed, and allowed my head to drop down as much as the harness allowed.  Just thinking about the Condesce was a mood killer. Not that there was a mood to kill in the first place. Well, I there was one it was a depressing one, bringing to mind anguishing baby barkbeasts, and telemarketers. So thinking about the Condesce actually reinforced my shitty mood rather than killing it. Damn her, And her reinforcing ways. I chuckled softly, at the absurdity of the thought, the sound echoing around the empty room. The smile didn’t last long. 

Having to deal with keeping the ship stable and in a gentle orbit around one of the many newly-colonized planets while simultaneously providing the extra energy for the various party-related shit that had been heaped onto my programming was definitely not helping my mood. That in addition to having to deal with the frightfully bad taste in music vibrating through the frame of he ship was ensuring that my day was worse than it usually was.  

Of course, knowing me, it could always get worse. Now that was a cheery thought. I turned my attention to the live feed from the security cameras installed all around the ship. I might as well watch highbloods getting drunk. Its not like there was anything else to do. This kept me entertained me for the next hour and a half, before unexpected movement drew my attention. It was in one of the less known corridors, one of the ones that most trolls were killed for even noticing and, coincidentally, it was the one that led to the Engine Room. 

It was the Condesce, of course. I don’t know who else I expected, no one ever comes down here except for her. There was something off this time though. For one, she wasn’t carrying her trident with her, which she almost always does when she visits me. Secondly, she wasn’t walking with her normal cocky swagger. This was worrying; when she wasn’t acting like herself, things usually went badly for me. All I could do was wait for her to reach me and see what happened then.

Predictably this didn’t take very long because she wasn’t that far away. She opened the door, eyes lowered as she carefully closed the heavy steel door behind her. I opened my mouth to say my carefully prepared sarcastic comment, when she looked at me, and I noticed that there were tears in her eyes. Her lower lip trembled, and then she slumped to the ground, and began to sob. I stared at her incredulously, mouth hanging open. I had never seen the Condesce cry. Ever. I didn’t know what to do, and whats worse is that I didn’t know if I should do anything. I mean, this was the woman who had killed my moirail, sold one of my closest friends into slavery and exiled the other one, not to mention her treatment of my own personage. So I hung there, dumbfounded, and watched as the Empress of Alternia cried like a one-sweep-old. 

She looked so vulnerable, as tears were streaming down her face and her body was wracked with shuddering sobs. There are some women who can be in throes of grief, and yet still look lovely; the Condesce was not one of them. Her normally collected face was flushed fuschia and was scrunched up as her mouth contorted with each sob. She continued weeping into her knees for the next thirty minutes, and I continued to be hopelessly confused. When her sobs finally slowed to the occasional hiccup, she looked up at me, her face still tinted with tyrian. When she saw me staring at her, her face scrunched up again, and pink-tinted tears formed in her eyes.

“Fuck! Don’t start crying again,” I said hastily but it was too late. She was crying again, and also, I realized, incredibly intoxicated. I sighed, looking down at the Imperial mess that was the Condescension. It took less time for her to get her emotional shit together, and it was only fifteen minutes instead of thirty before her breathing began to calm again. Eventually she calmed down completely and silently looked up at me with eyes pink with crying and alcohol consumption. 

She sniffled, pawing at her eyes with the back of one hand. I wanted to ignore her right then, when she so clearly needed someone to talk to. I wanted to just ignore her and wait until she left so I could go back to hating her. I didn’t want to know that she could just break down like this. That is just not something that would make whatever the hell our relationship would be classified as any easier. Damn it.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I said hesitantly. Fuck, well I’d already said it, no going back now. I exhaled softly, and waited for the Condesce’s reaction. She just looked up at me, tears re-forming in her eyes as she nodded miserably. I nodded awkwardly at her, but she did not elaborate. I did not want to be in this situation. How could I ever think that this was a good idea. Instead of replying she just hugged her knees closer to her chest. With a sigh, I reluctantly prompted, “So, what were you crying about?”

And then the floodgates opened. She was talking and crying at the same time, words tumbling as freely as tears did. “It was Dualscar,” she sobbed. “D-Dualscar said he was flushed for me and I don’t know I guess I panicked, and now he dumped me and called me a horrible moirail and that I would be an even worse matesprit than I was an Empress. And then I got mad and I hit him and he hit me back and I pale dumped him and...and n-now he hates me but I don’t want him to hate him. He was the one person in the universe that I thought I could trust but now he’s gone and I-I don’t have anyone anymore and I am so alone.” 

Her rant was cut off as she began shaking again with the force of her sobs. I took the brief reprieve to process what she had just said. It made sense, kind of; from what I’d overheard from the nightly card games held by the higher ranking officers, the Condesce and Orphaner Dualscar had been moirails for a decade at least, so they must have been doing something right. But apparently Dualscar had something a little more flushed than moiraillegence. If they had broken up, things were going to get pretty rough around here pretty quickly. Hell, she had been only been a couple of hours without a moirail and already she was completely shit-faced and crying on the floor of the Engine Room.

“I know that I’m not exactly a good person, but it really really hurt when he said it, because I trusted him, and thought he’d always be there for me, but he wasn’t and he’s never going to be again,” she suddenly stopped, and a note of hopelessness crept into her voice. “Why the fuck am I telling you this. You are just some dumb stupid rebel pissblood.” 

“Well I’m glad to see that you have retained your manners even throughout these trying times,” I said sarcastically, before finally relenting, looking at her with something dangerously close to pity. “Look, I have no idea why you are telling me or why I am actually trying to talk to you. I honestly have no clue, but I am trying, so you can lay off the slurs, and at least appreciate someone listening to your whining when they could be doing something else.”

“Like what,” she sneered, her eyes suddenly blazing as she sprang to her feet. “You’re a fucking engine, what is there for you to do.” Ouch. That hurt. I stared at her coldly, resisting the urge to lash out with my psionics and knock her to the floor. But I had grown accustomed to restraining my temper, a skill that, unfortunately, the Condesce had not yet mastered. “It’s not like I asked you to take pity on me. I didn’t ask you to start talking, that was you who decided to do that, so don’t get all high and mighty with me, you fucking gutterblood.” 

Her features suddenly softened, her lower lip trembled and her eyes overflowed. She launched herself forward, arms going around my neck and buried her face in my chest. I felt the damp heat of her tears soaking through the thin fabric of my jumpsuit. I managed to tilt my head to lean it on top of hers as she continued to cry. There really wasn’t anything else I could do except wait there for her to stop her frantic sobbing. When she stopped, I expected that she would get off me and go back to her quarters, but to my surprise, she did not. It took a few minutes of stupidly staring at the back of her head, before I realized that the Condesce had fallen asleep. 

I laughed quietly, as my psionics gently pried her off me, carrying her sleeping body over to the programming chair. She looked so innocent when she slept. Well, sure, her makeup had dried in runny streaks down her face, and she was without a doubt sleeping off alcohol, but there was something about the way she unconsciously curled up in the chair that made her seem younger. I picked up the old coat that had been laying in the corner, it had been left there sweeps ago by a mechanic, out of pity or forgetfulness I do not know, and it did get cold down here sometimes, so I’d kept it around, and draped it as best as I could about her body. I smiled slightly, and turned my attention back to the glowing display.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! This one is kinda dark at the beginning, so be warned. That bit isn't very long because I didn't have the heart for it. This started out as two chapters but since I emotionally shut down it became one. I am beginning to fear for myself.

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“You have such beautiful blood,” the Condesce said as she stroked a hand down the side of my face, leaving a trail of blood down my cheek. I kept my gaze fixed on the floor, trying desperately not to cry out as she pressed herself against me. When the Condesce had woken up, she had been groggy, still disoriented from sleep. She had looked up at me, and then down at the chair in confusion, before standing and pulling the jacket tighter against her. She had left then, still rubbing at her eyes, and I had thought everything would be all fine and dandy. That is, until she came back down a day later, bright fuchsia with fury. Silly, optimistic me. I had tried to fight back, but she had quickly restrained my psionics. Her first blow had been to my face, and after the fifth I stopped keeping track. 

Now, her fury had quieted down a bit, and she had stopped inflicting new injuries, and had switched over to poking and prodding the old ones. She still hadn’t offered any spoken reason why she had come down here, but the unspoken one was pretty clear. I had seen her when she was vulnerable, weak, just another hysterical female crying over a quadrant breakup. And that could not be tolerated. She was the Condesce, Empress of Alternia and anywhere else that she fancied, a cold, hard-fisted ruler afraid of nothing, and I had seen her crying her eyes out and shaking on the floor. She felt obligated to punish me; it made sense, to a extent, but that didn’t mean I hated her any less.

I felt tired, worn out from screaming and from blood loss. She had her arms looped around my neck and was whispering sinister threats to me, as my vision swam. I did not notice the small, elegant dagger until it was digging into my chest. I gasped in shock, and the edges of my vision blurred and turned black. I didn’t need to look down to know that she had carved her own sigil into my chest. Then I let go, and faded into darkness. 

 

_____________________

 

When I regained consciousness, I hurt all over. Not that being in pain was a new experience for me, but damn, she really did one hell of a job this time. I could still feel the burning outline of her symbol scratched into my chest, and the rest of my body (or at least, what I could feel of it) felt battered and numb. And judging from the force of her blows last night, I could safely say that I had some nice bruises forming on my face. Slowly I began to focus less on my pain and more on the world around me. The thick, metallic smell that filled my nostrils was most likely my own blood mixed with the natural scent of the room. Not that there was much of a difference between the two; for some unknown reason, the room already smelled like my blood, and had for some time.

My head felt heavy, and my eyes felt even heavier. And the blocks were still on, which was just adding to the pain. As an experiment, I attempted to crack open my eyes. A sliver of blinding light convinced me that this was one of the stupidest ideas I had ever had, along with joining the Revolution and trying mind honey. Just as I resolved never to open my eyes again, a voice spoke, echoing into the small metal room. A second voice answered the first in a low tone, only to have the first speaker snap something in response. The noises came from the hallway, and the speakers were far enough to make it impossible to make out what they were saying, but close enough that I could easily recognize one of the voices. It was the Condesce, of course, no surprise there, but the identity of her companion, or more likely her peon, remained a mystery.

I kept my eyes closed and my head down as they entered the room. Now that they were closer, I could clearly make out that whoever was conversing with the condesce was female, and that she sounded young, I couldn’t see her to make sure, but she sounded twelve sweeps top. That was far too young to be mucked up with the Condesce and her lot, which she undoubtably was if she was in the Engine Room. Not many people were allowed down here, and if they were, it was because they were either a technician or a guest of the Empress’ come to watch the show, and in some cases, join in. For my bruised and battered sake I hoped it was the former. 

“Empress, from what I gathered from the reports-” whatever the younger troll was going to say trailed off as the set of footsteps halted, presumably at seeing yours truly. The confident sounds that I recognized as the Condesce’s stride continued on a couple second past when the unknown troll’s stopped. Of course the Condesce wouldn’t be phased by my condition, especially seeing as she was the one that put me in it. 

“What, never seen a helmsman before?” said the Condesce, a teasing note in her voice. Whoever this girl was, she had to have seen some things before, especially if she was a technician, as her previous statement suggested. The Condesce knew probably knew that fact, and was just expressing her superiority by putting the kid in the uncomfortable position of explaining exactly what had shocked her about my appearence, a question that, if answered incorrectly, could have some dangerous repercussions for the girl.

“No, Your Imperiousness,” she countered, her voice smooth. “I have just never seen one so excellently maintained.” The Condesce let out a rich, seductive laugh as she walked nearer to me. I felt her hand against my cheek, and struggled not to flinch away, trying hard to remain limp in her grasp as she turned my face to the other troll. 

“I did do a rather thorough job, didn’t I?” she purred, tilting my head to the side. I heard a slight affirmative noise from the other troll. Well whoever was accompanying the Empress certainly had tact, and knew how avoid getting culled by talking out of place. “I’m rather proud of it. What do you think of it, blueblood? Do you like what I’ve done?” 

“He looks so peaceful when he sleeps,” she said, ignoring her own question as she stroked the side of my face, her voice becoming something dangerously close to tender. It took all my self restraint to keep from tensing up and jerking my head away from her. It was too late to just open my eyes, by now I would have ‘woken up’ if I was going to, and if she learned that I had been eavesdropping on her conversation, things might not be too friendly between us. That being so, I couldn't do anything as she softly brought her lips to mine. A slight cough causes her to pull away.

“I do, Your Majesty, though I worry about the functionality of the ship,” the blueblood said, unfazed. I wish I could be as relaxed as she sounded. The Condesce laughed slightly, and released my head, letting it fall back to rest on my chest. It was not a nice laugh, and it died soon after it began. The room seemed to drop a few degrees, which seemed pretty ridiculous seeing as it was already as cold as a fucking glacier in here. I had been to a glacier once, when I was still traveling with the Signless. We crossed over one so he could speak with a small group of trolls living on one of the icy slopes nearby, and in order to get to said village we had a two day trek over a very cold and very beautiful glacier.

“What do you mean by that,” the Condesce said, her voice suddenly sharp. 

“Nothing, Your Majesty, I was just stating that that might be the reason for the recent malfunctions. Your Helmsman has been under an enormous amount of mental, and physical stress, which is probably the reason for the ship’s loss of power.” Loss of power? Fuck, how long had I been out. Too long, I decided, and frantically reached for the ship’s ever-present mainframe. I could not reach it for some reason, I could sense it, but my link to it was tenuous at best. What the fuck happened to me?

“The system most likely crashed in the moment or two before you revived him, and probably hasn’t been able to reconnect.” Shit. So I had died. Bummer. It wasn’t that big of a deal, because it had happened before, and I had been brought back, but it seems kind of rude to be killed and then not know about it. Like unwelcome guests showing up at your hive uninvited, only in my case the unwelcome guest was death and my hive was my body. “Your Majesty, I really would suggest that you ease up on his well-deserved punishment until he is back to full strength.”

“You will get him up and running soon, and that is an order,” snapped the Condesce, making an impatient noise that was most likely accompanied by an imperious sneer. She wasn’t exactly agreeing to the blueblood’s suggestion, but she wasn’t downright refusing it like she could have. If she actually took the girl’s advice and eased up, it would be a miracle. The technician agreed wholeheartedly to the Condesce’s demand, and, after much bowing and scraping, Her Imperial Condescension flounced out of the room. I heard her companion move over to the main console and begin tap-tap-tapping away at the keys. Once the Condesce’s footsteps retreated down the hall, I lifted up my head, and looked at the technician. 

She was a tiny thing, a little on the plump side, but with generous curves. Her straight black hair went past her shoulder blades with short bangs hanging over her eyes. Two slim horns gently spiraled up from her dark hair. As I watched, she fished a hair tie from a pocket of her technician’s uniform (which was trimmed with a flattering periwinkle blue) and pulled her hair back into a messy ponytail. I cleared my throat, and I swear, she jumped two feet. She stared at me, blue eyes wide, as I smiled the best I could manage. “Hey there. Thanks for that, she might lay off for a couple of days.”

“Y-you’re conscious?” stammered the girl, staring at me with shock, disbelief and just a little bit of fear, a sharp contrast to the smooth front she had shown the Condesce. I nodded to her, but she continued to stare, mouth slightly opened. Did I really look that bad? Well, I probably did, I had just been brought back from the dead. And then there was the fact that most Helmsman weren’t able to speak after their first two sweeps of powering a ship that might be throwing her off a bit. That would be a shade surprising, if I were in her place. “But that’s impossible. You can’t be...”

“Believe me, I am,” I cut in. “Didn’t the Condesce tell you that her pet could talk?” Okay, maybe that was a little bitter, but I think I was damn well entitled to some bitterness by now. Not that it affected the other troll much, she simply continued staring at me with wide, bright blue eyes, her forehead furrowed in confusion. She took a step closer to me, tucking a strand of hair that hadn’t quite made it into her ponytail behind her ear. Then she took another step, and another until we were only about a foot apart. 

“I have never heard of a Helmsman being able to talk after two sweeps, let alone one-hundred and forty,” she said, her lips pursed. Christ, was that how long it had been? One-hundred and forty sweeps? It seemed like less than that. Maybe time really does fly when you’re having fun. “It is remarkable. Tell me, do you still have all your memories? Can you still verbalize your thoughts?” Now it was my turn to stare at her. 

“She really did not tell you any of this?” I asked, my voice soft. The girl shook her head vehemently, eyes still studying me carefully. She had lost the fear in her gaze, and curiosity had taken its place, mingling with the shock and disbelief that stayed firmly where they were. She really had no clue. The Condesce had brought her in here thinking she would be repairing a soulless hunk of meat, but instead she’d gotten me. I suppose it made sense, from the Condesce’s perspective, to keep my sentience a secret so people would not be too interested. Judging by this girl’s expression alone, I was beginning to think she’d made the right call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be continued in the next chapter, and I have most of it written, I just didn't include it with this one because this is already the second longest chapter in this thing. Thank you for reading! Everybody! Anyone who left a comment, or liked it. Even if you just left an anonymous kudo. Thank every single one of you. It brightens my day.


	6. Chapter 6

“So, who are you?” I asked, eyeing the petite troll. My question must have startled her out of whatever trance she’d been in, because the female troll jumped and returned her gaze to my face. That came as a relief. The way she had been staring at the mass of wiring surrounding me was not been exactly calm inducing. No matter how innocent she looked, she still worked for the Condesce, and was more likely to start experimenting with different torture methods than to leave peacefully. But then again she was a technician, and generally technicians fix things rather than make them worse. That was a small ray of hope.

“I’m Gertan Aertic, Second Rank Technician of the glorious Battleship Condescension.” she said, her back straightening and her chin coming up. A frown twitched across her features. “Excuse me, First Rank Technician,” she corrected. I raised an eyebrow at her. One corner of her mouth quirked down, and a faint shadow darkened her eyes. “There was a vacancy,” was all she offered. She looked down to her hands, then brought her head up, not quite meeting my eyes. “Well, we’d better get started.” 

The time passed in a bit of a blur after that. This was probably because I was drugged out of my mind. Whenever any kind of work on the helm was done I was drugged, probably to keep me out of it enough to convince the technicians that I was nothing but an engine with the bothersome side affect of being made up of flesh instead of metal. This time it was the hardcore stuff that made it that much easier to block all memory of the operation from my mind, something that I was grateful for to no end. Boy did it feel nice to be treated like a person again.

When I came to, my head pounded, and my whole body ached more than usual, and that pissed me off. It was just plain old unfair. Waking up groggy and uncomfortable seemed to be becoming a regular thing with me. Well no, that wasn’t exactly true, I’d been waking up groggy and uncomfortable for a long long time. Why it was just starting to get to me really said something about my mental state. Snapping myself out of my internal ranting, I opened my eyes. Immediately, searingly bright lights reminded me of how much of an idiot I am. 

Through narrowed eyes, I peered around the blinding room. Gertan was still in the room, sitting before the console, almost unmoved since I had seen her last. Her eyebrows twitched slightly at something on the screen, and she turned to look at me. She offered me a small smile, and I tried my best to return it. “How are you feeling?” she asked, with something bordering on concern touching her rounded features.

“I’ve been better,” I rasped, before clearing my throat. “Is there any way you can turn down the lights?” She nodded, and turned to the bank of various switches and knobs, considering them for a moment between selecting one that dimmed the overhead lights. I almost sighed in relief. I smiled at the other troll. “Much better, thanks.”

“Good, I’m glad I could help,” she said, smiling up at me as she took a seat in her chair. She pulled one of her legs up onto the chair and hugged it to her chest. I stared back at her, unsure of what to do next. None of the other technicians had really hung around much after they got the job done. Of course, none of them had known that I’d been awake, or what a charming conversation partner I was. Gertan was probably only sticking around because she felt sorry for me, and probably not in the romantic sort of way. At least, I hoped not. That would be a nightmare. 

“So, what now?” I asked, breaking our mutual silence with my usual eloquence. She laughed, and spun around in her chair. Damn it, she got a twirly chair. I wanted a twirly chair. I pulled myself out of the spiral of jealously I was most certainly careening into. It was no use being jealous of her twirly chair. I probably didn’t even have legs anyway, which would make it pretty hard to twirl myself around in the twirly chair.

“We talk, silly,” Gertan said, still smiling. I stared at her blankly. She wanted to talk? I was totally and utterly confused. What would we even talk about? Its not like there was a guidebook for proper conversation subjects for two people in our positions. Even if I hadn’t been grafted to the hull of a starship, I wouldn’t know what to say. I had a feeling that we ran in very different circles, especially since I hadn’t run in any circle save my own rather depressing one for a long while. 

“About what?” I asked, unable to keep the skepticism from my voice. Don’t blame me I just gave you a whole fucking paragraph about why this situation was nigh unworkable for me.

“Anything, really,” she responded, her chipper mood persevering despite my negative attitude. So we did, talk about everything, that is. Well, maybe not everything, but we certainly talked about a lot of things. It was odd, talking to someone who wasn’t the Condesce. I hadn’t done so since I came here, and the experience was disconcerting to say the least. Sure I’d seen other trolls. The various technicians who had maintained the helmsblock before Gertan, the Condesce’s cronies who came down occasionally to join in the fun, and of course the rest of the battleship’s population through security feeds, but that really wasn’t the same as conversing with someone. As saying something and knowing they heard you and knowing that your words were being processed through their brain in the seconds before they reply. Gertan was one of two people I’d talked to in one-hundred and forty sweeps. That realization on its own was enough to quiet me for a second. Holy shit that was depressing. It was really no wonder why I liked her so much

Eventually we wound down, and I hazarded a look at the time. Four hours had passed. I pointed it out to her, along with a reminder that she should probably get going and she rose swiftly, straightening out her jacket, and giving the console one last going over. I had to say that I was sad to see her go. 

“Is there anything else I can do?” she asked, fiddling with the hem of her jacket as her eyes flickered over my body and the surrounding biowires. I shook my head, and she bit her lip, her eyebrows furrowing, then smoothing out. “Goodbye then, Psionic. I’ll see you soon.” She took a step forward, and stood on her tip-toes to place a small, self-conscious kiss on my cheek. When I looked down at her face, she was blushing bright perriwinkle blue. The sound of slow, sarcastic clapping was suddenly heard from the doorway, startling us both. When we turned we were greeted by the sight of the Condesce, leaning against the frame, a sharks smile on her painted lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am a little shit.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took so long. I was suffering from truly horrendous writer's block plus school started, and homework and shit which sucks. So yes, I hope you like this chapter, and forgive me for the wait. Please, please, please, I would love if you messaged me over tumblr (my url is http://eclecticspoope.tumblr.com/) to get my ass in gear to write the next chapters. I would greatly appreciate it, and updates would be faster. Thank you and I hope you enjoy this traumatizing chapter

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Gertan pulled away from me so quickly there was a fair chance she got whiplash from moving so fast. Her eyes were wide and terrified, and her hands were clasped together behind her back, her knuckles white from the force of her grip. My gaze shifted to the Condesce as the tyrian-blooded troll laughed, her head tilting back as she sidled into the room. Gertan’s eyes tracked her movement with worried eyes as her Empress came to a stop at my side. One of her arms snaked around my waist as she looked up at me sweetly. And that one look was enough to fill me with dread. 

“I was wondering what was taking you so long,” the Condesce said, swiveling her head to look at the petrified technician. The Condy smiled, her tone giving away nothing. I knew these moods. This was the quiet before the storm. Something bad was going to happen soon, and the Condesce would be the cause of it. Usually I was the only one to be on the receiving end of her foul moods, but now, with Gertan here... I wanted to warn her, to yell and scream at her to get away. But that might not be the best thing for her. Gertan had been kissing me when she had come in, and even if it was a kiss on the cheek, the Condesce was a jealous woman. If I gave her further evidence that I cared about the blue-blood I would just be making things worse for the both of us. I could only hope that she understood how utterly fucked we were before it was too late.

“I didn’t you for such an...ambitious troll. But I suppose I have misjudged you. It won’t happen again.” The Condesce smiled again, and then turned to look up into my alarmed face. She bit her lip sensually, fuchsia eyes flicking over me. She stood on her tip toes and brought her lips to mine making a show of the kiss. I remained as still as possible until she reached up and pulled on my hair. Now that just wasn’t fair. In addition to the pain from my scalp there was also the ever growing pain as the Condesce’s, vigorous movements put more and more strain on my freshly-grafted arms. At least I was spared the embarrassment of being able to see how Gertan was reacting to the Empress sticking her tongue down my throat. 

That is, until the Condesce released my head, her arms still twined about my waist. I lifted my gaze slowly, to see Gertan trying desperately to keep a straight face. The Condesce smiled smugly to see Gertan’s expression of poorly concealed disgust. The Condesce simpered at the blue blood. “I’m not sure exactly what is going through that tiny little brain of yours, but I just want to make it clear that he is mine. Do you understand what that means? Your little flushcrush is mine, body and soul, and he will always be mine until I decide otherwise.”

“And he’s such a catch too,” The Condesce continued, her voice light and conversational like they were discussing fresh caught fin beast instead of a fully cognizant troll who just so happened to be in the same room as them. Ahem. She looked up into my face as she finished speaking, and a saccharine smile on her lips. I glared at her the best I could but she ignored it, her expression staying the same as she reached up and tenderly ran her hand down the side of my face. Her eyes caught mine, and I saw that they were just as cold and hard as they always were, despite what her smile and manner might suggest. She looked into my eyes and one side of her mouth quirked up ever so slightly. Then she turned to Gertan, her movement precise and calculated, “Isn’t he?”

I could see the gears in Gertan’s head turning, trying to come up with a proper response. I could also see the gears beginning to smoke and spark as her expression darkened. Shit. The Condesce’s delivery had been flawless. All of it, from the moment that she entered the room. ‘Practice makes perfect’ must be true because she had been at this a long time and had had more than enough time to practice manipulating other trolls. She had played Gertan into her trap with ease, and I had been too caught up in my own to warn her. Shitshitshitshitshit. 

“I suppose so,” Gertan said, the fear behind her neutral expression showing through her eyes. The Condesce could see right through it, or she just naturally assumed that any sane person would be scared out of their minds, which was probably a safe assumption. 

“Oh and have you been looking?” the Condesce said, her tone playful. She was enjoying this far too much. Her hold around my waist tightened, and then released. She gave my cheek a kiss then turned to look at Gertan. She stepped forwards, her spandex-clad hips swaying with each step. “I must tell you I don’t like other people touching my things. Especially my favorites, which he undoubtably is.”

The Condeasce took a slow, sensual step to Gertan’s side; she wrapped her arms around the blueblood’s as she put her face close to the other trolls and smiled, her wickedly sharp teeth on display. “What can I say, its a character flaw.” 

Gertan’s eyes flicked nervously over to the Empress, as the tyrian-blooded seaweller laughed, and nipped playfully at the technician’s ear. Gertan pulled back a little, but the Condesce’s teeth still came away slightly stained with blue. She licked her lips, and grinned, releasing the other woman as she made her way over to a control panel. And then a familiar blinding white wall of pain crashed down on me. The blocks. Fuck.

Through the haze that enveloped me, I was aware the Gertan was looking at me worriedly, but I found it hard focusing on her face. Or anything. Had it been this bad before? My memories from the first time were pretty vague, but I did not remember this much pressure. It felt like my head was being pounded out from the inside. The Condesce moved across the room. Gertan was talking, her tone soft, with an underlying tension. A harsh chuckle from the condesce, and then a flash of something gold. “NO!”

But it was too late. There was a burst of blue, and Gertan’s body collapsed, the Condesce’s trident protruding from her neck. The Condesce laughed again, as she moved forward, planting a foot on the dead troll’s chest and pulling her trident from the corpse. My head hurt so much. She turned to me with an innocent expression on her face. “Oh, I’m sorry, my hand must have slipped,” she said, trailing a hand down my chest, effectively cleaning her palm of Gertan’s blood. 

“Why,” I said softly, as my vision began to waver.  
“Because I can,” she said, simpering a smile at me as blackness consumed me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


End file.
